A Modern Retelling
by Yet-Another-Weasley
Summary: The classic story set in the 21st century. Mr. Bingley moves into two to start a prestigious internship, bringing along his best friend and sister. They're introduced to the Bennet's at a dinner party and the rest of the story goes from there.
1. Chapter 1

"Lydia!" shouted Elizabeth Bennet, "Hurry up, please! I still need to get a shower."

With sharp sigh, Lizzie–as she was more commonly known–headed back to her bedroom where her sister Jane was getting dressed.

"Oh Jane," she said, hanging onto the doorframe.

"Don't 'Oh Jane' me, Lizzie," replied her sister, "I'm just trying to look respectable."

"You look like a princess, I'm sure you'll be the belle of the ball."

Jane rolled her eyes, "It's not a ball, Lizzie, it's a dinner party."

"With a dancefloor," Lizzie added, "And maybe I could get ready for it if Lydia ever gets out of the bathroom."

"Lydia, please, you have four other sisters. You're pretty enough as it is," Lizzie could hear her father trying to resolve the situation.

Lydia opened the bathroom door with a huff, "Fine."

Lizzie caught Mr. Bennet's eye as she hurried to the bathroom to get ready for tonight, "Thanks."

In one of the other bedrooms, Kitty was raging through her closet. "What am I supposed to wear?"

"How about that one?" Lydia stepped into the room.

"No, definitely not," Kitty sighed, "Plus I wore that last month. I wish we could have gone to the mall yesterday; you could have helped me pick out a new outfit."

"You'll look fine," her sister reassured her, though Kitty suspected it wasn't all that genuine.

"Oh easy for you to say, Miss spends two hours primping in the bathroom!"

"Shut up!" Lydia said, throwing one of the stuffed animals on the bed at her sister, "Come on then, I'll do your hair."

From her mother's room, Lizzie only just heard shrieks of "Mr. Bennet! Mr. Bennet!" before the shower drowned them out. Like her younger sisters Lydia and Kitty, her mother often got overexcited by parties and other social gatherings. While Lizzie found them to generally be a good time, she mostly thought they were a bit ridiculous. Still, she wouldn't spoil it for her sisters.

In another hour or so, the Bennet family was on their way. Their destination was to the home of one of the men Mr. Bennet worked with on occasion. There wasn't really anything to celebrate, save for the end of the season. Some families would be leaving soon to go on holiday, so the dinner party was a chance for their one last hurrah.

"Welcome, may I take your jackets?" a young man asked as they walked through the threshold.

"Where can I find Mr. Brown?" Mr. Bennet asked the young man.

"Just through in the library," came the reply, "Have a good evening."

Mr. Bennet turned to smile at the girls before heading into the other room, leaving the six remaining Bennets to mingle as they pleased.

"Is Charlotte going to be here?" Jane asked.

"She said she would be," replied Lizzie, taking her sister by the arm and leading her down the hall.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Bennet had already found the hors d'oeuvres and punch bowl. Kitty and Lydia had also begun making their own rounds. The age of their fellow partygoes was much older than that of the fifteen and sixteen year old, but there was no doubt they'd find someone to converse with. Those two were naturally bubbly and outgoing. Mary, on the other hand, was much more subdued. She sat by the piano and people-watched.

It didn't take long for Jane and Lizzie to find their friend. Charlotte was seated next to her parents when the two girls approached her.

She jumped up at once and leaned closely to whisper something to them. "You'll never guess what I overheard!" she said excitedly.

Lizzie and Jane both returned clueless looks before Charlotte continued, "We finally have some new additions to our party. A young wealthy man named Charles Bingley is supposed to be staying in town for a while, along with his sister Caroline and friend Mr. Darcy."

"What about that makes you so pleased?" teased Lizzie.

"Don't be ridiculous, I haven't even met the man yet! I'm just thrilled to finally have some new potential acquaintances. Particularly ones that are a bit closer to our age." The three girls looked around the room and noted that the majority of the guests were not as young as they once were.

"So, how did you hear about this Mr. Bingley? Where's he from?" Jane pressed.

"I overheard my father. Apparently, Mr. Bingley is going to be doing an apprenticeship with Mr. Brown's firm. I'm not sure what the story is with is sister and friend."

"He must be good then, or have good connections," said Lizzie, "I can't remember the last time Mr. Brown's firm took on anyone new, especially not anyone so young."

Though their excitement and curiosity continued, the conversation transitioned to other topics. Lizzie and Jane brought Charlotte up to date on whatever was going on in their lives recently, and vice versa. Both sisters had been away at university for the spring and hadn't seen their childhood friend in several weeks, so there was a lot of catching up to do.

Up until Lizzie went away to college, Charlotte had been one of her closest confidants. The two were still close, but distance meant they didn't see each other nearly as often as they had used to. Charlotte was five years older than Lizzie; she still lived at home with her parents and did her best with her craft business. She was an old soul in many ways, and she was very traditional. Most were certain that Charlotte would never move away from her parents, let alone find a husband. It wasn't that she wasn't kind or friendly, just that she was rather plain.

Lizzie was in the middle of telling Charlotte about one of the project she had been working on when the room fell silent. A few of the older women looking out the window and then back at each other as if they were thinking the same thing.

And then, the young man who had earlier asked for their coats announced, "Mr. Bingley, Miss Bingley, and Mr. Darcy."

The latter two stared cold-faced about the room, but Mr. Bingley seemed much more jovial.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance," he smiled.

Lizzie was sure he held gaze with Jane just a touch longer than he had with the rest of the group.

Mr. Brown clasped a hand upon the young man's shoulder and the rest of the room lit up again with conversation.

"Well, I guess what I overheard _is_ true. Mr. Bingley is definitely handsome," Charlotte commented.

Jane and Lizzie both nodded in agreement. "The other man seemed a bit… stuffy, though. And his sister didn't look very friendly either."

"Lizzie, you shouldn't make such harsh judgments; they barely know anybody here."

"Well, we'll be introduced eventually, I expect." Lizzie replied.

Across the room, Mary was now playing the Browns' baby grand piano. Most of Mary's days were filled with practice. She was still in high school, but she had high hopes of going to school for music and eventually becoming a famous composer. Her fingers moved effortlessly along the keys until she was jolted to a halt by the hand on her shoulder.

It was her father, "Mary, that's enough, dear. Take a break and mingle."

She stormed off and Mr. Bennet could only shake his head. Meanwhile, some of the other young girls took this opportunity to put on some more modern music. The living room had more than enough space to dance, and it was far enough away from the dining area that it wouldn't be a bother to the older attendees. Though, that didn't stop some of the older folks from joining in. In particular, Mrs. Bennet, who was perhaps a bit drunk from too many cups of punch, had taken to the floor to dance with her two youngest daughters.

Mr. Bennet didn't seem to mind and instead was being introduced to the new guests.

"How very nice to meet you," Mr. Bennet said, shaking Mr. Bingley's hand.

"Thank you," Mr. Bingley replied, "This is my sister Caroline and my good friend Mr. Darcy."

"How are you enjoying town? Where are you staying?"

"We're renting the Netherfield Estate, which is very nice. So far we're having a very good time. I'm glad everyone is so friendly," the young man replied.

"You'll have a great experience working with Mr. Brown," Mr. Bennet said.

"Yes, I'm sure I will."

It was then that Lizzie, Jane, and Charlotte walked up and joined the group.

"Ah, these are my two daughters, Elizabeth and Jane, and the Lucas' daughter Charlotte," Mr. Bennet properly introduced them. "Girls, this is Mr. Bingley, his sister Caroline Bingley, and his friend Mr. Darcy."

"Nice to meet you," said Jane, quite shyly.

"Yes, it is," smiled Mr. Bingley.

"And are you having a pleasant evening, Mr. Darcy?" asked Lizzie.

She seemed to have caught him off guard, "I suppose it's pleasant enough."

Mr. Bingley's sister Caroline didn't say a word to any of them.

"Well, hopefully we'll talk again later. I have to continue making the rounds," Mr. Bingley said to them, though it seemed aimed most at Jane in particular.

Mr. Bingley and his group continued around, introducing themselves to their fellow partygoers. Eventually they found themselves being introduced to Mrs. Bennet and her other three daughters.

"I've already met your two daughters Jane and Elizabeth, along with your husband," Mr. Bingley said.

"Wonderful!" Mrs. Bennet replied with a big grin upon her face. "I hope you'll get a chance to get to know them better; they're such nice girls–and beautiful too, if I may say so."

Mr. Bingley laughed at this and shook his head in agreement.

"How long will you be in town?" asked Lydia.

"For a while, I hope," the young man replied.

Mrs. Bennet chimed in again, "Yes, it's nice to have a new addition and some fresh faces to look at. Handsome faces…"

Clearly, Mrs. Bennet had had a bit too much to drink and it was starting to show. Mr. Bingley didn't seem to be offended at all, however.

A number of other guests also seemed to have ingested a bit too much alcohol, which livened up the otherwise uneventful evening. Most of the younger folks had taken to dancing and chatting in the living room area. Kitty and Lydia were particularly glad of this and barely sat down the whole evening. They may have been some of the youngest at the party, but that didn't seem to matter much; if they couldn't find someone to dance with then the two of them had just as much fun dancing with each other.

Even Jane ended up on the dance floor–asked by none other than Mr. Bingley.

Others, however, were less outgoing. Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley's sister barely moved from their spot in the room the rest of the night. They certainly didn't seem to be enjoying themselves very much, barely saying even a word to each other let alone to anyone else they had been introduced to.

"Hey Darcy!" shouted Mr. Bingley, "Keeping the walls company? Why don't you ask someone to dance? There are plenty of nice looking women here; how about that girl there? We were already introduced, and she is quite pretty."

Little did the two young men know, but Lizzie had overheard their conversation and was listening intently, though she didn't let on.

"_Her_? She's tolerable, I guess, but I'm really not in the mood to dance. Go on, don't let me stop you from your fun."

Lizzie had at first thought Mr. Darcy to be a very handsome man upon first meeting, but upon overhearing him she was now resolved that he was the ugliest man she'd ever seen. As soon as Mr. Darcy had gone from the room, Lizzie stormed off to confide in Charlotte what she'd overheard.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: Thanks for reading/reviewing/faving/following! I really appreciate it. Pineapple0215 asked what Bingley does as an occupation that he's doing an internship… ahh sorry I thought I put that in there but I must have just been planning it out and didn't actually explain it when I wrote the chapter. The way I see it, Lizzie and Jane are both in their early 20s, while Bingley and Darcy are a bit older. I'm not sure if the book ever said what their occupations were, but for this fic I figured they'd probably be doing either business or law. Mostly that was backstory to explain why Bingley had moved to the area, so it's not necessarily an extremely important detail. but I hope that explains that though! Thanks for asking, and seriously if at any point there's something that doesn't make sense or needs to be more fleshed out let me know. I really want to use this to improve my creative writing :)

It was a new day, and everyone–nearly everyone–was downstairs eating breakfast. Mrs. Bennet wasn't exactly an early riser this morning due to the excessive amount of alcohol she consumes the previous evening. Still, she made her way downstairs to gossip with the girls before she had to head out to run some errands.

"Sleep well, Mom?" Lydia asked with a smirk.

"Can you just pour me a cup of coffee, dear?"

Lydia did as asked, adding two teaspoons of sugar but leaving the drink black.

"Here you go," she handed her mother the cup.

As Mrs. Bennet sat down, Jane finally appeared in the doorway. She had a large smile upon her face and her dimples appeared upon her cheeks.

"Ooh, what's going on? What are you smiling about?" her mother prodded.

"I just had a nice time last night is all." Jane replied, helping herself to one of the muffins from the middle of the table.

After breakfast, Jane and Lizzie finally had a few moments to themselves. Lizzie was eager to hear more about Mr. Bingley and if Jane really did like him as much as it seemed she did. Once the dancing started the previous evening, Lizzie spent most of the remaining time talking with Charlotte. Jane, however, danced with Mr. Bingley several times. They had gotten home fairly late, so the girls didn't have a chance to talk before they collapsed into their beds, exhausted.

"He just seemed so perfect, Lizzie," Jane said. "He was an absolute gentleman: funny, friendly, kind, and just good-mannered. He seemed so put-together and different than any other guy I've ever met or had a crush on."

"Plus, there's the fact that he's really good-looking. That doesn't hurt either," Lizzie added.

"I couldn't believe he danced with me for what seemed like half the night! I didn't expect that, not from a guy I'd just met."

"Why wouldn't you? You need to give yourself more credit; I don't see why any guy wouldn't want to dance with you. Anyway, I definitely approve, and I certainly think you should try to get to know him better if you have the opportunity. He seems much better than some of the other guys you've liked."

"Lizzie!"

"Well, it's true. Sometimes it seems like you go out with people because you're too nice to turn them down. You only see the good things, but to a fault."

"I just don't like to judge a person's character too quickly, that's all."

"I know, but sometimes it seems as if you are blind to the faults of others. Not everyone is as good as you make them out to be. What did you think of Mr. Bingley's sister Caroline? I didn't think she was nearly as friendly as he was."

"Well, not at first. I did get to talk to her a little, and once she opened up more she was friendly enough. She's a bit younger than her brother, and she's going to be going to university here while Charles is doing his internship with Mr. Brown. I think it'll be nice to have some new faces in town."

Lizzie just nodded in agreement and didn't press the subject any further. She supposed that as long as her sister was happy then she would be happy for her.

"And what did you think of his friend? What as his name again?" Lizzie asked.

"Mr. Darcy? I'm pretty sure Charles said his first name was Fitzwilliam, but that he preferred to go by Will," Jane explained. "I didn't really talk to him, but he seemed nice enough, though maybe a bit shy or something. I don't think he dance with anyone at all; I guess he's a bit of a wallflower."

"Yeah, he did seem a bit… closed off." Lizzie had meant to say pretentious or arrogant, but didn't feel like talking about what she had overheard and how she had been snubbed. She let it go for now and the two girls headed out. They were on their way to meet up with Charlotte to run some errands. Though, of course, the subject of their discussions would most certainly be about the previous evening.

"I overheard him talking to Mr. Robinson, you know," Charlotte explained. "Mr. Robinson asked how Charles was enjoying the party, and whether he thought there were some good looking young women in the room, and _which_ young woman he thought was the best looking. And do you know what Charles replied?"

Jane looked at Charlotte with what seemed like genuine curiosity.

"He replied almost immediately with your name, Jane! I really do think he likes you!" Charlotte exclaimed. "Overhearing that was far better than what poor Lizzie overheard Mr. Darcy say. Oh, to be only _tolerable_! What a rotten thing to say!"

"Oh, Lizzie!" Jane said, "It's such a shame. When I was dancing with Charles, I told him to tell his friend to ask you. He was very handsome, though his behavior severely diminishes that fact."

The girls' conversation continued on about the rest of their prior evening. They commented on the other people they had spoken with. Though Charles Bingley, his sister, and Mr. Darcy were the only new acquaintances, it had still been some time since the girls had spoken with some of the other people at the dinner party. It was all businessmen and neighbors, but these people had become almost like their family. The neighborhood was very close-knit, and everybody knew everybody. The only downside was that this meant everybody knew everybody's business as well.

Over the following couple of weeks, the new additions to the Netherfield Estate were able to get to know the Bennets and other residents a bit better. Caroline Bingley and her friend Mrs. Hurst who was staying briefly had grown to enjoy the company of the Bennets–for the most part. They were civil with Mrs. Bennet, but generally speaking the youngest sisters were found to be more annoying than anything. Caroline was closer in age to Elizabeth and Jane, and so she to become better acquainted with _them_.

Jane found this to be very flattering, and she, too, wished to become friends. At any rate, Caroline was Charles' sister; spending more time getting to know her meant that Jane would also occasionally end up running into _him_. She tried not to let her feelings run rampant; it wasn't like her to make her affections known publicly or for her to go chasing after guys she had feelings for. Jane was old fashioned in that regard, and she did everything by the book.

This didn't stop Charlotte from throwing her thoughts into the mix, "You have to remember that this is the 21st century, Jane. If you have feelings for someone then you shouldn't hide it! If he doesn't think you're interested then he'll move on and find someone else who he _knows_ is."

Lizzie defended her sister, "Well, I can tell what her feelings are for him. He must be blind if he doesn't see it too."

"You're her sister, though. He doesn't know her disposition as well as you do. You know that she's just a bit shy, but all he sees is that she's not returning his flirtations. She needs to reel him in and then she can take the time to get to know him better. In today's dating scene you have to take initiative and make a move yourself."

Lizzie sighed and simply nodded. However, she knew she could never force Jane to come out of her shell if she wasn't ready to. She had high hopes that things would work out between her sister and this Charles guy; they seemed like they'd make such a good match.


End file.
